


The First American Super Soldier

by blackflowercrowns



Series: Newsies Avengers AU [2]
Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers AU, Crutchie is Captain America, Jack is Bucky, Other, Prequel, The origin story for a series that i'll publish later, bc i've had this idea for two months and goshdarn I'm gonna write it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-26
Updated: 2018-01-26
Packaged: 2019-03-09 09:07:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13478226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackflowercrowns/pseuds/blackflowercrowns
Summary: The Newsies were the first to hear about Pearl Harbor being bombed. When the headline was put up that morning, lots of them cheered. A few of them were somber, and at least three of the oldest boys immediately ran off to volunteer.Crutchie led the pack.But Crutchie was the first one sent home. Until, after seven tries, the Jewish doctor Josef Jacobs offered him the chance to serve his country. And who was Crutchie to refuse?





	1. The Recruitment

**Author's Note:**

> I've had this idea for two months and probably have like 13k words of it (in non-chronological order, of course) so here we go, the prequel to my main Avengers fic!

Seventh recruitment office in as many months. He could feel the eyes on him as he walked in, bad leg dragging slightly on the ground as he moved forward in line.

He knew what they were thinking. Why is he here? He knows he won’t get in. Why is he taking up space that an able-bodied person could fill? And then there was that word that he couldn’t even say to himself.

Truthfully, Charles “Crutchie” Edward Morris didn’t know either. He knew there was no chance he’d get in, but just in case there was, he had to try. His asthma alone would rule him out, not to mention his bad leg.

“Next!” the draft officer called. Crutchie hobbled forward.

The man gave him a once-over. “Go on. We both know there’s no way you’ll be accepted. Make way for someone who can actually fight.”

“I can fight too!” Crutchie protested.

“Sure, you can,” the officer rolled his eyes, “’everyone can fight, even from home!’ So, go home, and do your fighting from there. Collect tin or something, I don’t care, just get out of my office.”

“But-“

“Just go, kid,” the man behind him said.

“’M not a kid,” he muttered before walking out of the office.

He walked down the street as a teenage boy peeled himself off the wall. “How’d it go?”

“They told me to get out. Didn’t even hand me a form.”

Jack tutted. “Discrimination. Should I sue?”

Crutchie snorted. “It wouldn’t do any good.”

“It might.”

Crutchie rolled his eyes and changed the subject. “Received any orders yet?”

“Nope. In fact, I thought that in celebration of me not being sent over to Europe we could maybe go out tonight?” Jack asked. His eyes betrayed how badly he wanted this.

Crutchie sighed. “You have got to stop setting me up with dames. They don’t want no man with a bum leg.”

Jack stopped and looked Crutchie dead in the eye. “Charlie.”

Crutchie stopped walking and looked up. Jack used his name, which meant this was important.

“The right girl will like you, hell, she’ll love you, whether your leg is perfect or not. The person you’re meant to be with will love you for you, not your body.”

“Thanks, Jack,” Crutchie said. He meant it.

“You’re welcome. So, you comin’?”

Crutchie sighed. “I guess. Who is it?”

Jack grinned like the sun coming out after a rain. “Katherine, obviously, and her cousin. A nice Mormon girl. Rebecca-”

“Cunningham?” Crutchie guessed

“Yeah! How’d you know?”

“I’ve met her before. Her parents run the bakery on 23rd. Nice girl, but I doubt she’d go for me. She’s super devout and I’m super not.”

Jack shrugged. “You could always convert.”

Crutchie laughed. “I have a perfectly fine religion, thank you very much.”

“I’d’a never guessed, the way you and JoJo carried on every Sunday,” Jack said, rolling his eyes.

“At least we have something to get us through the bad times.”

“So, every other day of your miserable lives?”

Crutchie laughed and smacked Jack’s shoulder.

~~

Rebecca was nice enough, but it was obvious she was more interested in Jack. Earlier in the evening she’d asked Crutchie if he thought that they would consider converting to Mormonism just so both she and Katherine could have Jack.

Crutchie kinda stayed silent after that.

But it was fun, all in all. Jack had worn his uniform out, so they kept getting stopped by people who would thank him for his service. They played all the carnival games, watched some demonstrations, and even bought some cotton candy to split. All in all, Crutchie would consider it a successful date.

Except,

His morning at the recruitment office still hung over his head. He couldn’t get it out of his head, and it was only made worse by the war propaganda posted everywhere, and the recruitment tents around every corner. He turned away from one tent to see another one five feet away.

It only made him want to fight more.

He looked up to see that his friends had all walked over to see a demonstration by some Higgins guy with a flying car. It stayed up for a few seconds, but promptly crashed to the floor. The guy made a joke about how he did say it was from the future before Crutchie grabbed Jack’s attention.

“Hey, Jack?”

“Hmm?”

“My leg’s kinda hurtin,’ I’m gonna head back to the lodge. You don’t mind walking both the girls home, do ya?”

“Nah,” Jack said, attention still on the demonstration in front. “Take care of yourself, Crutchie.”

“I will.” He started walking away before thinking of a quip to yell back. “Don’t get carried away on Katherine’s doorstep again!”

Katherine's face turned red as Jack flipped him off without so much as a glance. Crutchie laughed to himself as he walked up to the recruitment office that had been staring him in the face.

Luckily the line was short, and the man at the desk handed him a form without so much as a cursory glance. Crutchie sat to fill it out and handed it back in. He was called back to the examination room minutes later.

He hopped up on the exam table and propped his crutch up to the left of the bed. As Crutchie began unbuttoning his shirt the doctor picked up his file and began looking through it. Crutchie thought it looked a bit thicker than it should’ve, but waved it away.

Until the doctor’s eyebrows rose. “Stay here,” he instructed, before quickly peeking through the curtains and out of sight.

Crutchie saw a sign out of the corner of his eye. _Falsifying recruitment forms is a federal offense._ he began pulling his shirt back on, planning to make a run for it.

As he got his left shoe on, another doctor came through the door. He looked at Crutchie obviously preparing to leave and motioned for him to get back on the table. Resigned to his fate, Crutchie did as he was asked,

“So, you want to go overseas. Kill some Nazis.”

Crutchie looked up from his feet. “What?”

The doctor walked over and offered his hand to Crutchie. “Dr. Josef Jacobs. I represent the Strategic Scientific Reserve.”

“Crutchie Morris.”

The room was silent for a moment. “I’m sorry, but where are you from?” Crutchie asked.

“Queens,” he answered without looking up from Crutchie’s file. “73rd Street and Utopia Parkway. Before that, Germany. Does this trouble you?”

“No,” Crutchie answered.

“And where are you from?”

Crutchie started to say the city he’d put on tonight’s form as Dr. Jacobs kept talking.

“Is it New Haven? Or Paramus? Seven exams in Seven different cities.”

“That might not be the right file-” Crutchie stuttered out.

“No, it is the correct file. However, it's not the exams I'm interested in. It's the seven tries. But you still haven’t answered my original question. Do you want to kill Nazis?”  
Crutchie began shaking his head. “I don't wanna kill anyone. I don't like bullies. I don't care where they're from.” 

The doctor nodded, obviously pleased with his answer. “That is a good answer, Crutchie. And your multiple efforts seem to back up your claims. But unfortunately, no amount of tries is going to fix your leg. Whatever happened to it?”

“Got ran over by an ice wagon when I was thirteen and it didn’t heal correctly.”

“Why didn’t you visit a doctor?” he asked, genuinely curious.

Crutchie scoffed. “Yeah, because a thirteen-year-old newsie who can’t walk and can’t work for a month is gonna be able to go to a doctor. It was only because the other newsies pitched in a nickel each a week that I was able to stay in bed while it healed the best it could. Not even all of us together could afford both a doctor and the day’s rent.”

The doctor looked back down at Crutchie’s folder. “Hmm. Well, this does present a challenge, but let it be said that I am nothing if not determined.” He nodded to himself and motioned for Crutchie to follow him out of the exam room. Crutchie grabbed his crutch and hurriedly followed the doctor out. “Well, there are already so many big men fighting this war. Maybe what we need now is the little guy, huh? I can offer you a chance." He pat Crutchie on the shoulder. "But, it is just that-a chance.”

Crutchie grinned. “I'll take it!”

“Good!" the doctor grinned. "So where is the little guy from, actually?”

“Lower Manhattan.”

“A good city. So, Crutchie Morris of Lower Manhattan, are you ready to embark upon possibly the hardest thing you will ever do in your life?”

Crutchie straightened up and started nodding even before the doctor was done. “I am so ready. Just tell me what I have to do.”

The doctor chuckled and handed him a pen and paper. “Write down an address where I can reach you. You’ll get a letter shortly that will give more information. Be ready to leave in two weeks or less.”

“Yessir!” Crutchie shouted. In his excitement to jump forward and vehemently shake the doctor’s hand, he almost fell over. Dr. Josef laughed and grabbed his arms to keep the young man from falling over. 

“Don’t go injuring yourself anymore, Crutchie. Now go tell your family the good news, alright?”

Cructhie, a huge grin on his face, saluted the doctor. “Yessir!” He picked up his crutch from beside the table and began walking out. “Thank you, sir!”

Dr. Josef chuckled. “See you in a few weeks, Crutchie. It was nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too!”

When he got outside the office he looked around to make sure no one was watching before he began jumping around in celebration. There was a skip in his step the whole way to the lodging house.


	2. Letter from the Army

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Crutchie tells Jack, and Jack gets called away.

He reached the lodging house long after dark, pushing open the door as quietly as he could. He hobbled into the bedroom and prepared to get ready for bed, unbuttoning his overshirt. A hand snaked over his mouth and around his waist. He started to struggle until he felt a familiar rhythm tapped against his arm. He relaxed and Jack spun around so that Crutchie could jump up on his back. Usually Crutchie preferred getting places on his own, but at times like this when his crutch was likely to wake the other newsies he let Jack carry him.

Once they reached the ladder to the fire escape, Crutchie let go and began hauling himself up. Jack came behind him. When Jack got himself situated on the fire escape both boys began talking at once before stopping, laughing, and Crutchie motioning for Jack to go first.

“Where were you?” he asked. “I got back from Katherine’s even later than I thought I would and you still weren’t here! Albert said he hadn’t seen you, and no one knew where you were!”

“Got back from Katherine’s late, eh?” Crutchie asked with a smirk on his face.

Jack’s red face told him everything he needed to know. “You weren’t at one of those recruitment offices that was all over the fair, was ya?” he asked, changing the subject.

“Maaaaybe,” Crutchie said.

Jack sighed. “Really, Crutchie? One day they’re gonna catch you and you’ll end up in prison and what good would that do you? You know how they treat people -”

Crutchie expression fell more and more as Jack kept talking. “People like me?” he interrupted, slightly ticked off. “People with a crippled leg? People who can’t fend for themselves in the big wide, scary, world and gotta be babied?”

“That’s not what I meant -”

“But it's what you said,” he interrupted again.

“I’m sorry, Crutchie. I’m trying to get better.”

Crutchie sighed, anger dissipating. “I know.”

“I really am sorry, Crutch.”

“I know, Jack. Just watch it next time, alright?”

Jack nodded. “So what happened at the recruiters? Did they kick you out again?”

“Nope. Oh, and you don’t have to worry about them finding out. They already did.”

Jack’s eyes widened comically. “Then why are you still here? You’ve gotta get out! We’ve gotta go somewhere they can’t find us!” He scrambled to his feet as Crutchie laughed. Jack spun around to face him. “Why are you laughing? This is serious!”

“They accepted me.”

Jack sat down heavily. “They what?”

Crutchie’s grin came back, wider than ever. “Meet the newest recruit of the U. S. military!”

Jack stood up again and hugged him. “Really? Congrats, man! How’d you do it?”

“I don’t know,” Crutchie said. “This doctor, Dr. Josef Jacobs, came in and talked for a little bit and then said that I could be admitted if I was willing to work for it. He said we’d start in around two weeks.”

Something in Jack’s eyes dimmed for a split second before he hugged Crutchie again. “I’m so proud of you,” he whispered.

“Thanks, Jack.” 

They sat back again, sitting in silence. The air was getting chilly, but it was still warm enough to sit outside after dark.

“I wonder how many stars there are that we can’t see,” Crutchie mused aloud.

“Billions,” Jack answered softly. 

They didn’t mean to, but both fell asleep outside on the fire escape.

~~

There was silence for three days until JoJo tracked Jack down with an official looking letter. It had the U. S. Army logo emblazoned on the front as well as Jack’s name. He accepted it with a grim face that only got grimmer as the letter went on. When he reached the end he sighed, folded it up, and stuffed it in his back pocket.

“Well, fellas, looks like Uncle Sam does need me.”

The older boys’ faces fell. The older girls sat heavily on the bunk nearest them while the little kids started chattering excitedly about how Jack was going to be a soldier. Crutchie came up and put his hand on Jack’s arm. “Guess they won’t need me then, you’ll end the war before I even get through training.” Jack laughed at his attempt at lightening the moment. 

“Thanks, Crutchie. I’ll be sure to punch ol’ Adolf in the face for you.”

Some of the other newsies stole him away after that and in no time it was time for Jack’s departure. He’d set up a system that would function in his absence and instructed everyone how it would go down when the older kids eventually volunteered or got drafted. He’d obviously spent a lot of time thinking about this because he brought out a bunch of detailed plans and drawings and blueprints just in case anyone was confused. At first Crutchie laughed until he noticed just how much effort Jack had put into them.

But despite how much everyone was dreading it, the day for Jack to catch his train arrived. The whole boarding house took a break from selling to see him off, and he got at least three farewell hugs from everyone gathered as well as a borderline scandalous kiss from Katherine. He was grinning and waving out the window as he left, but Crutchie could see that he didn’t want to go.

Jack wasn’t as good at hiding his emotions as he thought.

Kath grabbed Crutchie’s arm as they walked away from the station. “So, have you received any word from Uncle Sam?”

“Nah, they ain’t sent me no letter yet. They still got ‘til Saturday, though.”

“Crutchie, that’s in two days.”

“I knows that.”

Kath squeezed his bicep. “You do know that it's okay if they don’t send you a letter, right? It’s okay if you stay home and avoid the fight. You’ve already got one bad leg, do you really need another?” As soon as the words left her mouth she looked like she regretted it.

 

Crutchie bristled at that comment. “Kath, could you please not talk about my leg that way?”

“Sorry, Crutchie, I wasn’t thinking.”

“Yeah.”

All attempts at conversation ceased as they walked back to Crutchie’s usual selling spot. Katherine left soon after, claiming that her parents expected her home soon. He finished selling the papers he’d brought with him and headed back to the lodging house.

~~

The twins, Mike and Ike, greeted him at the door with matching smiles on their faces. “JoJo told us to make sure you got this,” they said in unison.

Crutchie laughed at their practiced synchronicity as he took the letter from them. Like Jack’s letter that he’d received it had the U. S. Army logo on the front as well as his name. He tore it open in excitement and read through it hurriedly. A huge grin split over his face as he read his assignments for boot camp in a week’s time.

He let out a huge ‘WHOOP!’ and ran up the stairs as best he could to share the news with everyone else.

~~

He soon stood on the train platform opposite the one Jack had stood on a week and some days earlier. The one Blink had been on was four down, Mush’s the one next to Blink’s. Mouse’s was on the other side of the ticket window and Tracker’s was three down from hers. All had volunteered the day after Pearl Harbor was bombed. Jack was the only one still alive. 

Crutchie decided that both of them would make it back to help fill the void that their fellow newsie recruits had left. He would kill Adolf Hitler himself if he had to.


	3. Training

Basic training was hard, even with a brace that helped him walk on his bad leg. Dr. Josef, who had greeted him upon his arrival at the camp, had given him the huge piece of black metal and told him that it would let him train, but he could wear it for no more than ten hours a day.

He would never mention it, but it hurt to wear it for more than ten minutes. It didn’t help that the other guys made fun of him for wearing it, constantly nagging him about his leg. Unlike the other newsies, they didn’t stop after he asked them to, and they certainly didn’t try to make it any easier on him either. One morning he woke up to find that someone had stolen his brace.

Even after he grabbed his crutch and reported to the superior officer it wasn’t found. He spent the day with Dr. Josef instead of out training with the other guys. When he returned at the end of the day his brace was back where he left it the day before.

The third time it went missing they finally searched everyone’s bunks and found it in Morris Delancey’s trunk. He was booted from the program and into the infantry.

When asked, Dr. Josef replied, “A soldier who uses his power to pick on those who don’t have it as easy as him isn’t the type of soldier America needs.”

Crutchie’s brace stopped disappearing after that.

~~ 

The next day the privates went on a run. Private Delancey, as usual, was leading the pack and Private Morris, as usual, was at the tail end of it. The drill sergeant called a halt in front of the camp’s flag. 

“This flag hasn’t been taken down in 17 years! First person to bring it to me gets a ride back in the jeep with Agent Jakob and General Jones. Get to it!”

As expected, the cadets immediately began clambering up the pole, shoving each other to get a chance, using any part of their fellow soldiers to put their feet on to try and reach the flag.

Morris stood back, observing.

“All right, ya mongrels, back in line!” the sergeant called. “Get ready to run back!”

They groaned, but nevertheless listened and fell back into formation. Except for Morris. He approached the flagpole, despite the sergeant’s yelling and looked up at it. He looked for a second before bending over and pulling out a pin. He pulled one on the other side and the pole creaked before slamming to the ground. He walked over, unclipped it, handed it to the shocked sergeant, and climbed into the backseat with Agent Jakob.

“Afternoon,” he said to her.

“Afternoon,” she returned.

~~

The next time something like this happened, they were doing jumping jacks out in the yard. General Jones and Dr. Josef stood to the side, watching the cadets train. They were currently doing jumping jacks, and Private Morris was falling behind. Private O. Delancey, however, was ahead of the game, having already reached the number assigned and continuing on. 

“You're not really thinking about picking Morris, are you?” General Jones asked.

“I am more than just thinking about it,” the doctor responded. “He is the clear choice.”

“When you brought a ninety pound asthmatic with only one functioning leg onto my army base, I let it slide. I thought, _‘what the hell?’_ Maybe he'll be useful to you, like a gerbil. I never thought you'd pick him!”

“Come on girls!” Agent Jakob yelled at the cadets. “My grandmother has more life in her, God rest her soul!”

The General snorted at her tactics. “You sure you wanna use Morris? Look at him! He’s puny! He’s making me cry!”

Dr. Josef chuckled and shook his head.

“Throw me a bone here, Jacobs,” General Jones said. “Delancey passed every test we gave him. He's big, he's fast, he obeys orders. He's a soldier.”

“Delancey’s a bully.”

“You don’t win wars with niceness, doctor.”

Dr. Jacobs began rooting around in the truck behind them. “Throw this and it’ll show you why I want Crutchie.” He handed the general a dummy grenade.

General Jones shrugged, pulled the dummy’s pin, yelled “GRENADE!” and chucked it into the group they’d just been observing. They all threw themselves away, Agent Jakob running to sit behind a Jeep.

Morris though. The damn fool threw himself over the grenade, curling into the fetal position on top of it. “GET AWAY!” he yelled. “GET AWAY!!” He braced himself for the explosion.

When several seconds passed and no explosion came, Morris sat up. He looked down at the grenade and it finally processed that it was a dummy. He collapsed back on the ground in relief.

Dr. Josef gave the general a look. 

“He’s still skinny,” he muttered, walking away.


	4. America's First Supersoldier is Informed That He is, in Fact, Going to be a Supersoldier

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one's a little short, but it's necessary :)

It was exactly two months after his first day at basic training when Crutchie was called into Dr. Josef’s office. Usually they would meet in a lab or a mess hall, never in his office. He used his crutch in lieu of his brace as that day was a particularly bad flare up. 

There were a lot more people in the office than he expected. Several generals, even more doctors, and a few scientists sprinkled in among them. They all fell silent when he walked in.

“Um, hi?” he said.

Dr. Josef stood up and made his way over to Crutchie. “Crutchie! So good to see you my boy!” He wrapped the other man up in a hug and whispered in his ear. “I don’t know why they’re here either, this was supposed to be a private meeting.”

Crutchie patted Dr. Josef on the back. “It’s alright,” he whispered back. The two pulled apart and the doctor walked away to pull a folder from his desk. Crutchie nodded to the men assembled in the room. None of them acknowledged him.

“So, Private Morris. How would you say training has been?” Dr. Josef asked.

Crutchie laughed mirthlessly. “Hard. Knew it would be when I signed up. Why do you ask?”

“Do you remember the letter you received a few weeks after our first meeting?”

“Absolutely. Dear Mr. Morris, you have been selected to participate in a trial for the U. S. military’s attempts to win this war, If you accept, please be at City Hall Train Station, platform 12 on September 11, 1915, at 1400 hours. Again, why do you ask?”

“Well, Crutchie, you were the only one told about the secret program.”

Crutchie’s eyebrows rose in surprise.

“All the other recruits think that they’re here just for basic training. And after today they may be right.”

Crutchie looked at him inquisitively. “What do you mean?”

“Crutchie, we’re asking you to undergo a very dangerous procedure that will alter your very genetic makeup. We don’t know what it will do to you, we’ve only ever tested it out on paper. But, if it works the way our calculations say it will, you will be the first in a line of supersoldiers for the U. S. army’s attack on Nazi Germany.”

Crutchie’s mouth fell open. “You-you-you’ll what?”

“You will be unstoppable,” General Jones spoke up. “And if it works on you, we will do it to others until we have an entire army of soldiers that are stronger, faster, and smarter than anything Adolf can come up with.”

Crutchie’s mouth fell open. “And you want me to be the first?”

“Yes,” Dr. Josef said. “I do. So, Crutchie, what do you say?”

“Yes! Yes, of course I will!”

“Great! The procedure will take place tomorrow. Now everyone, shoo.”

Crutchie paled. “Tomorrow?”

“OUT!” Dr. Josef yelled. “I must talk to him myself! Shoo!”

When the room was vacated Crutchie collapsed into a chair. “Tomorrow?”

Dr. Josef raised an eyebrow. “Yes. Is that okay? Not that you'll really have a say in it, but I still value your opinion.”

Crutchie snorted. “I guess it'll be fine. Just shocked, is all.”

The doctor moved to pat him on the shoulder. “You will be fine, Crutchie. There’s a reason that I chose you.”


	5. Letter from Basic

_Dear Jack,_

_Greetings from basic training._

_So, guess what? There was a reason that Dr. Josef chose me after all. He said he wants me to be the first super soldier developed by the U. S. Army. Isn't that something?_

_They don't exactly know what it will do to me, but if it goes like it should then I'll end up with lots of muscles and I'll be faster, stronger, and bigger than anything Adolf can even dream of! Won't that be neat?_

_I am a little scared, though. What if it doesn't go like it's supposed to? What if it messes up my leg even worse? What if it messes with my other leg or my arms? ~~What if I die?~~_

_Anyways. I'll be fine, good as new. Even better than new, just you wait and see! No serum is going to ruin me any worse than the streets of Manhattan could._

_And just think, you won't have to get in so many fights anymore. I'll be able to scare off the scabs all by myself!_

_Dr. Josef just knocked on my door. He probably wants to talk about the stuff for tomorrow. I'll write later and I'll make sure to give you all the details._

__~~Your friend,~~  
 ~~Your best friend,~~  
Your brother, 

_Crutchie_


End file.
